My phone was ringing when I got back to the dorm, I was very reluctant to pick up the phone but I did. “Hello.”
“Katyla, that was not very nice to run out on me.” Theodore was on the other end.
“I know, but I…”
“Look, I don’t want to rush you, I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable around me, I will let you decide when we go any further then we have gone.”
“I am afraid…” I didn’t know how to tell him I was afraid of killing him.
“Nothing to fear, I told you I will not rush you.”
“It isn’t being close to you in that way….” I struggled on how to explain it. “It is being close to you in that way and losing control that I fear, I could kill you, even though I don’t want to.”
“Is it the smell of my blood?”
“No, it is because of my strength, if I allowed myself for one second to lose control, I might kill you and I couldn’t live with myself if I did that.”
“Then turn me.” Theodore demanded.
“I don’t want to cause you that pain.”
“You will turn me someday. Why not now, today?”
“We would have to leave, you would be so new, you will want to feed all the time, and animal blood is not as tempting as human.”
“Then we leave, I have no contract here.”
“But Marcus must be in school.”
“He can go to school, we will just move somewhere else for a while. Marcus can finish his schooling anywhere.”
“Look we should discuss this in person and with Marcus.”
“So come back home.” Theodore called his place home, and I couldn’t believe how good that sounded.
“Let me grab some things and I will come back over.”
“Good I will leave the door open for you. See you soon.”
“Bye.” With that I hung up the phone and slide to the floor. For the second time in my existence seriously thinking about turning someone for my own selfish needs, like with Marcus, I wanted Theodore forever. What was I going to do? It was only a few moments but it seemed like forever before I moved again. I was lost in my thoughts; did I really want to turn Theodore because of my selfish wants? Would it really be worth making Marcus move to a new school again? In the end as I grabbed a shower and a change of clothes, I decided, no it was not worth it. I would just have to be strong enough not to hurt Theodore, no matter how far we went before I turned him. Just fifteen minutes later I was back at Theodore’s house, and even though the door was unlocked I knocked. Theodore immediately opened the door.
“Katyla,” he said my name like he was getting relief from pain just by seeing me. “Come in, I told you I would leave the door open.” What did I do to become worthy of a soul mate, I knew they existed but I have done so much evil why would God give me a soul mate? And I knew now that was what Theodore was to me.
“It is just polite to knock before entering.” I wanted to make sure he wanted me there, for the first time I really feared rejection.
“Okay,” he rolled his eyes, and took me into his arms. I tensed, I wasn’t gone that long but I had changed clothes and washed his scent off me, so the smell of his blood hit me like a wrecking ball. “What is wrong?” He was confused, he started to pull away.
But I held on tight. “Nothing, nothing at all, I was just away from your scent for too long, it hit me strongly like it did the first time.”
“You were gone only about twenty minutes.” Theodore didn’t know what it meant that I was away from him too long, but he liked the sound that twenty minutes was too long.
“I took a shower, I changed clothes, and your scent was no longer with me at that point. So my system just took a shock and I tensed.”
“You tensed up the first day in class. Was it my scent?” He kept a hold of me but moved backwards towards the couch.
I did not answer until we were seated on the couch, his arm around me. “Yes, I must have thought of a million ways to get you alone to drain you, and then I heard you speak. I wasn’t paying attention until you said my name. Then it was like the sound of your voice was the only thing in the world. And the war began the vampire and woman fighting against each other. The war rages on, I don’t know who will win at times, I just need to be honest with you.”
Theodore remained quiet for a couple of minutes, his cheek against my head, at first I thought maybe he had fallen asleep, his heart beats were steady and calm, and then he spoke.
“Katyla, why won’t you turn me?”
“I told you.” We just had this conversation, why was he asking again.
“Those are excuses. Marcus was uprooted once and he is doing fine. I am sure he will understand leaving again.”
“But now is not a time to uproot him again. Especially with Argos after him, somehow Gavin was able to get past spells that could keep back the most powerful witch.”
“You said that you didn’t do very many spells, maybe they were weaker than you think.”
“I didn’t place them. There is a local sect of witches, they have generations of power behind them, and they are some of the most powerful in the world. I had them set them. They are loyal to me. I speared their ancestor.” I didn’t want to say the words out loud that the only way for Gavin to have gotten past the defenses, was if one of them betrayed me. I thought of the agreement I had made with their ancestor and updated each generation. If they betrayed me and I found out about it they were to die. Their death would be that of a traitor. Which for a witch is to be burned at the stake, people forget they did that to traitors and witches. For a witch to be called a traitor and burned at the stake is a great hit to the family name it will take centuries to repair.
“Could they have undone the spells, let this Gavin in?” Theodore was thinking what I could not bring myself to think.
“I don’t know, I have trusted them for so long. I don’t trust easily, and I am bound by a contract with them to kill the traitor. I don’t know if I want to kill anymore, but I will have to find out. I can’t have Marcus and you in danger.” I knew all I would have to do is perform a truth spell it would show me what happened then I would have to burn the witch at the stake. And to keep those I loved safe I would kill the traitor and their family to make an example of what happens when you cross someone as powerful as me, I lied to Theodore, that I don’t have a strong witch’s power, I do, but don’t use it as it requires more and more blood to regain my strength.
“How would you prove something like that anyway?” Theodore asked as he twisted my hair in his fingers.
“A truth spell, if I do that spell and I find the traitor I will kill them Theodore, I am going to warn you now, the death will not be pretty and nobody is going to point fingers at me, but all witches will know who and why.”
“Why not let them get away with it? I mean like strip their power and let them live or something like that why do you have to kill them?”
“They… it is something I can’t really explain. If I had betrayed them I would expect them to try to punish me. Not that they would have succeeded but I would have expected them to try. I will perform the spell and take care of it while you sleep. This is not something you will witness.”
“Like hell! You are not going to put yourself in danger without me around!” Theodore thought I could get hurt!
I sat up though he tried to keep me against him; I easily stood up and looked straight in his eyes. “Theodore, I cannot be injured, well I can, but mere mortals will not cause my demise. You will see the news what is going to happen and I will not allow you to see me like that. I hate taking human life, in fact I haven’t killed in over two thousand years, and today I may have to destroy a whole generation of people. You will not bear witness to that! So we can do this the easy way or the really easy way!” I was not going to let them use him against me.
“Okay let’s see my choices are you go alone kill a bunch of very powerful witches who could hurt you, and I just let you. Or you make me let you and then we have our first real fight.” Theodore was mad I would even threaten to use mind control on him.
I sighed and sat down on the coffee table, and took his hand in mine. “Theodore, there will be blood, there will be screaming, they will try to stop me, they will hurt my physical form, none of that bothers me. But with you there as a mortal they will try to kill you to hurt me. If I put you in that danger and you were hurt, or…” I couldn’t bring myself to say the word. “No you are not going, I won’t use my mind control on you but I can prevent you from leaving this house and I will use the spell if I need to do that. In fact I need to place a spell on the place to prevent the other vampires to see inside or to find the place.”
“They have already been here, and if you are hired the witches before how are you going to be able to do the spell without them?” Theodore was confused about my saying I would do the spell.
“I am powerful in the spells I know, it is the need for blood afterward I need that prevents me from performing the spells myself. And I can make it so they can’t find the street again; they will be turned away from this section, not able to sense a spell or us.” I stood to leave, to get my materials for my truth spell.
“Kat, if it is not the witches you hired, but another group what will you do?” Theodore was sure of the answer before the question finished forming in his mind.
“Nobody and I mean nobody will put those I love at risk and live to tell about it any longer.” I knew I was going to kill whoever it was that allowed Gavin in the school, who allowed them to almost kill Theodore.
“I still think I should go with you, you can turn me then I won’t be killed.” Theodore was going to push the issue of being turned until I turned him.
I sat back down on the coffee table and took his hand again and looked him straight in the eye. “Love, you will be dead for three days before you return as a vampire for one, and for two a new vampire is very weak, they burn in the sun, they are effected by the slightest bit of light and can be killed in almost any way that stops the brain from working, so you see you would not be much use to me in this battle, will it help in other areas yes. But, love, we can’t be selfish.”
“Why not, why can’t you turn me for our own selfish needs?” Theodore really didn’t see how bad it could really be for a new vampire.
“Theodore I am going to do something, don’t be mad but I am going to show you a new vampire.” I placed my hand on his head and transferred a memory of mine, my first memories as a vampire. I showed myself waking up, I showed myself burning in the sun, I showed him how when the smell of Argo’s hit me, I turned to an animal, turning him accidently. Then I stopped, placed my hand back on his and waited for him to tell me he didn’t want me that he could never be a monster and never be with a monster like me.
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